Interview: Dan Duxbury on His 42 Day Munro Round

© Dan Duxbury

To wrap up UKHillwalking's 3000-ers season we've had a chat with Cumbrian fell runner Dan Duxbury, who has just completed one of the most impressive Munro journeys ever made. In mid April Dan set out to attempt a very speedy continuous round of all 282 Scottish 3000-ers. He knocked off the lot in the phenomenal time of 42 days, 23hrs and 52mins, clocking up around 900 miles on foot and 600 by bike (though he didn't use a GPS, so those figures are approximate). It's the second fastest time on record, and not far short of Stephen Pyke's as-yet-unbeaten 39 days, nine hours, six minutes. But for Dan it was less about chasing targets than the joy of the journey.

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It was still fairly snowy at first
© Dan Duxbury

Before starting you told us that the residual snow left over from a heavy winter was a bit of a concern. So how did you find conditions underfoot?

Snow was a massive worry given the fixed start date of April 14th. Thankfully it melted dramatically in the two weeks before I set off; however there was still plenty in the corries and on some ridges to make things interesting. For the first couple of weeks I took axes and crampons and used them a handful of times. I often had to take longer lines on hills to avoid steep snow but it was also helpful in many ways as it was good to run down when soft and helped save the legs.

What about the weather these past few weeks – could’ve been better, no? Did that significantly impact you at all?

People I met on the hill in the last couple of weeks would often tell me that I'd had awful weather but I never saw it like that. There was lots of clag and rain but the weather was never so nasty as to keep me off the hill due to strong winds. So as long as I could keep moving I was happy.

You didn’t break Spyke’s record but 42 days is still a phenomenal achievement: what would it have taken in order to reduce this time?

Spyke's record is amazing and will certainly take some beating. I injured my ankle two weeks into my round and for a week or more was very doubtful I would be able to finish. I had to shorten my planned days to help me manage my injury and this cost me four days on my schedule. So not getting an injury like this would certainly help, but that is all part of the challenge: not getting injured!

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Dan and family on Ben Hope
© Dan Duxbury

In hindsight, is there anything you might have done differently?

Logistics and support worked brilliantly and I cannot fault anything about that side of things. If I did it again I would be more flexible and willing to change things on the schedule according to the weather. For example I had a wild camp disaster near the summit of Stob Coir' an Albannaich after only three days where my tent nearly blew away, meaning I had to descend to the valley exhausted, costing me a day. With hindsight I should have taken heed of the forecast, changed my plans, not camped high and waited until the weather moved through by mid morning the next day. I would also be more flexible and willing to have a longer bike ride to Skye to get the ridge done in better weather.

Sounds like you had a lot of support both on and off the hill: can you explain some of the things that people helped with?

I was lucky enough to have fantastic support from many people. Friends and family in a motorhome supported me on road crossings providing food and meeting me with bikes and kit. On most of the road bike sections I rode with other people who provided company and a wheel to ride on. I also had great support on the hill - from good friends to people I had never met before. They all helped by being great company, carrying kit and food and navigating occasionally. People also took on the thankless task of carrying my camping kit into and out of remote spots and bothies so that I didn't have to carry it and could focus on keeping up a good pace on the hill. Overall I spent nine nights camping or bothying. Lastly people also dropped my mountain bike up some of the longer glens so I could ride out to the nearest road. 

I would say in all over 60 people were involved in some way and it was very humbling to have them make the long trip north to help me realise my dream. I'll be paying back favours for a while I think! It would be hard to single out individuals but I must mention my wonderful wife Helen who, as well as putting up with my obsessive planning, preparation and training in the run up, also did the incredibly tough job of co-ordinating the motorhome support whist looking after our five and six year old girls. Much harder than climbing the hills.

Victory pose in his club shirt on Ben Hope  © Dan Duxbury
Victory pose in his club shirt on Ben Hope
© Dan Duxbury
Enjoying plenty of support on the hill  © Dan Duxbury
Enjoying plenty of support on the hill
© Dan Duxbury

What did you think of it all as an experience?

As you might expect it was pretty special. Spending typically 12 hours a day in that wild mountain landscape was just a dream come true for me and it was every bit as good as I thought it would be. Other than my ankle injury, physically I was pleased with how my body coped. Although the days were longer than I thought they would be beforehand, the pace was steady and I always found it no problem to get going the next day. Spyke gave me some great advice; never to 'empty the tanks' for the next day, and I made sure I never did. The hardest aspect was definitely the mental side of things, particularly when I was injured and for several days finishing the journey seemed unlikely. To keep going through this and the successful management of this injury was certainly the defining aspect of my round and the thing of which I am most proud. 

Would you do it, or similar, again?

Strangely yes I would like to do it again, but I'm also certain that I wont. It's not the kind of thing you get to have another go at! I could never get the support I had this time; people turned out to help as they knew it was a long held ambition of mine - very much once in a lifetime. I would like to do a long mountain trip in the future and take my time and appreciate things a bit more than I could on this trip. I also have a long list of Munros that I need to return to on a fair day to get some sense of what it's like and climb them by the best routes rather than the optimum lines for my round.
 

Dan was raising money through his trip for the John Muir Trust (currently around £1700) and the Cumbria Wildlife Trust (£1000 and counting). For more about the adventure, or to make a donation, see his blog

 

 



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